As Tax Day nears, fiscally conservative leaders in several states are pushing to abolish property taxes, with one Pennsylvania lawmaker arguing that homeowners shouldn’t have to “pay rent” to the government.
That lawmaker, state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, spoke to Fox News Digital on Thursday ahead of his latest effort to end the collection of such taxes in the Keystone State.
Diamond will put forward a resolution — titled HB 900 — which Fox News Digital learned exclusively will be filed imminently. The document is a draft constitutional amendment he hopes will go to the voters on Election Day, and not a typical piece of legislation requiring gubernatorial approval.
Pennsylvania Republicans previously utilized the constitutional amendment process to accelerate the rollback of COVID-19 lockdowns imposed by then-Gov. Tom Wolf and then-health secretary Rachel Levine — by placing the amendment directly before voters on Election Day.
“Property taxes are an issue that is not exactly partisan, because in some areas, it’s more of a big deal than in others,” Diamond said, citing varying relationships between taxes and school district funding.
Lebanon, he said, is kind of “middle-of-the-road,” but that just to the east in Allentown and Mount Pocono, property taxes are a “big deal.”
“For me, the ‘big deal’ is that I want people to own their homes and not have to rent from the government, all across Pennsylvania,” he said.
In a recent post on his Substack, Diamond quipped that every time the topic comes up, “folks get all twisted into knots over how we’re going to pay for the things those taxes currently pay for — frankly, they’re missing the point.”
“Boiled down to its very essence, fulfilling the promise of personal liberty is impossible if you can’t actually own a piece of real property,” he said.
Diamond noted to Fox News Digital how late Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael Musmanno called the ability to be “master of [one’s] fate” the “greatest joy that can be experienced by mortal man…. None shines with greater luster and imparts more innate satisfaction and soulful contentment to the wearer than the golden, diamond-studded right to be let alone.”
“Everything else in comparison is dross and sawdust,” Musmanno said in 1966, a quote which Diamond repeated to emphasize his point.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Gettysburg lawmaker who has also long championed an end to property taxes, called them “rent to the government for the land you own.”
“It’s easy to see why this antiquated tax is so despised in all corners of the commonwealth. More than 10,000 homes are seized annually in Pennsylvania and auctioned off for failure to pay the tax,” he warned in a statement.
Mastriano floated taxing Western Union-type remittances to foreign countries as well as endowments to already-wealthy colleges in Pennsylvania to fill the gap.
On the other end of I-95, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posed a similar question in his State of the State last week:
“Is the property yours or are you just renting from the government?”
“You buy a home, pay off a mortgage — and yet you still have to write a check to the government every year just to live on your own property?” DeSantis said, noting Florida home values have surged and escalating assessments created a “gusher of revenue” for municipalities.
“Taxpayers need relief,” he said, adding that pending legislation seeking “protections” for homeowners will have his support.
According to the Floridian Press, state Sen. Jonathan Martin of Fort Myers is one lawmaker heeding that call.
Martin’s new legislation calls for a property tax elimination framework to be subject to a study. The process would include examining the impacts on public services, changes in appeals to businesses to move to Florida, and other requirements.
On the second day of the legislative session last week, state Rep. Ryan Chamberlin announced “the beginning of the end of property taxes in the Free State of Florida.”
Chamberlin, R-Silver Springs, released a statement highlighting legislation to enact a $100,000 tax exemption on residential properties.
Some lawmakers were not on board, as state Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, told WPTV that the revenue would have to be replaced — and likely with other “very regressive” taxation.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey — the state with the highest property taxes — Republicans have long pushed for relief and now have a key Democratic ally backing their efforts.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who is running for governor this fall, wrote an op-ed for NorthJersey.com that promised lower costs for residents.
“For the naysayers, I’m going to detail exactly how my tax-cut plan for Jersey generates at least $7.9 billion in savings for Jersey to pay for $5.9 billion in tax cuts,” Gottheimer wrote.
Gottheimer’s plan would include a rental tax credit, a 15% property tax cut and a bonus for seniors choosing to retire to the Garden State.
Across I-80 in Indiana, Republican Gov. Mike Braun also laid out plans to cap property tax bills and slash the levies.
“Bidenflation caused property tax bills in Indiana to go crazy, and too many Hoosier seniors are struggling with staying in their homes because of these bills,” Braun told Fox News Digital.
Braun added that if an insufficient such bill were to come to his desk, he would veto it and call a special session until his standards are met.
Hawaii, Alabama, and Nevada have the lowest effective property taxes, while New Jersey, Illinois, and Connecticut rank among the highest.
During his term, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has promoted expanding the Pennsylvania Property Tax and Rent Rebate program, which aids homeowners over age 65.
